Another view: On public education funding and eliminating inequities between school districts

On public education funding

From The Poughkeepsie Journal

Absolutely, New York state should take over more of the costs of education over time and do what it can to fund schools – and to level out the playing field so all districts can more easily provide quality instruction.

It would be hard for anyone to be against those goals. But a recent report by a labor-backed education group ignores certain facts in its contention that the state has essentially reneged on $5.9 billion in school funding in recent years.

The Alliance for Quality Education cites a 2007 court ruling and says after honoring that agreement for two years, “the state turned its back on students and began cutting funding from schools in 2010-2012.”

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In that statement, the alliance simply ignores the fact that the state – like everything and everyone else – was dealing with the ramifications of a deep recession that led to revenue sources drying up and massive budget shortfalls. As the economy has bounced back, the state has increased education funding. And when you add up the money coming in from property taxes and other sources, you find that New York spends the most per capita in the nation on its schools, $19,076 per student.

Still, the alliance is correct that there still are terrible inequities among the school districts, that the state must do more to help “high-need” districts that have a lower property-tax pool and that struggle to close the achievement gap.

But spending is only part of the education equation. The state’s massive school system can take steps to save money as well, to focus more of the money on instruction and, say, lowering class sizes. Everything from pension reform to school and administration consolidations can help in that regard, but they are typically resisted. The state also must continue to make vast improvements to the controversial Common Core curriculum or scrap it and begin anew. And it needs a credible and strong teacher-evaluation process as part of this strategy.

As the alliance notes, in 2007 the state’s highest court did rule that New York was violating its constitutional obligation to provide every student with a “sound, basic education.”

But, while the ruling set financial benchmarks, it should be clear to everyone that a rigid court-imposed monetary figure doesn’t work for numerous reasons. For starters, it actually provides a disincentive for districts to be more innovative and look for ways to keep costs down. Moreover, the state has a range of legitimate, important concerns to address aside from education, including providing health services to the poor, cleaning up environmental messes and keeping roads and bridges from crumbling.

It’s essential that elected officials, not the courts, make the final determinations on these matters. This November, voters also will get another opportunity to promote schools if they wish by supporting a $2 billion bond initiative to improve school technology. Time and again, New Yorkers have shown they are willing to dig deep to support schools.

But they also know that “more money” isn’t always the answer and is never the entire one.